Oxford Fairtrade City Re-application for Fairtrade City Status November 2008
Page 1 of 12 Goal 1: Local Council passes a resolution supporting Fairtrade
In 2002 Oxford City Council passed a motion in support of moves to develop Oxford as a Fairtrade City. The motion began with the preamble:
“This council welcomes the initiatives by the Oxford Fairtrade Trade Coalition to encourage the use of fair trade goods, and notes that the Council, as an important consumer and opinion leader, should research, develop and support a strategy to facilitate fair trade where appropriate as part of its commitment to Local Agenda 21 and in pursuit of sustainable development.”
The motion went on to resolve ten key points. These points are listed below with an update on what has been achieved in relation to them.
Raising Awareness The council resolved to:
1) Express support for the Oxford Fair Trade Coalition and for the principles of fair trade
2) Promote awareness of Fair Trade issues and the opportunity for supporting Fair Trade in the area
3) To make publicity and educational materials available to the local people concerning the world- wide impact of unfair trade and the opportunities that fair trade provides to sustainable development and
4) To make the Council's employees and local businesses aware of the Council's resolution on Fair Trade
Oxford City Council have put their support for the Oxford Fairtrade Coalition into action by providing meeting spaces and Fairtrade catering for regular coalition meetings, and supporting staff members to attend and take part in the core group of the Coalition.
Oxford City Council's support for Fairtrade in the local area is publicised through the City Council website, which includes links to information and educational materials about the positive impact of Fairtrade ( http://www.oxford.gov.uk/business/fairtrade.cfm and ( http://www.oxford.gov.uk/oxonline/food-fairtrade-links.cfm ) and the Council have supported the printing and distribution of the Oxfordshire Fairtrade Directory.
The City Council have also funded advertising of Fairtrade Fortnight activities in the Oxford Mail, taking out large advertisments in 2006 and 2007, and promoting activities through the Council website.
The Town Hall has regularly been made available for Oxford Fairtrade Coalition events, including the launch of Oxford as a Fairtrade City, and most recently our Fairtrade Stories event in June 2008 that showcased Fairtrade activities from across the city. Using Fairtrade
Page 2 of 12 The council resolved:
5)To encourage the use of Fair Trade goods and products in vending machines; and
6) To request the Council's venues to stock Fair Trade products in addition to other brands.
From a motion calling for Fairtrade products in addition to other brands, Oxford City Council has moved towards Fairtrade as standard with a flagship Fairtrade cafe in the town hall.
In 2006, Oxford City Council decided to look at alternative ways of providing catering at the Town Hall. As part of a re-development, a café had been built within the Town Hall and it was concluded that value for money would be achieved by offering both the catering and café operation as a tender in the open market. Fosters, a family owned catering company, were successful in winning the contract. Part of the reason for the evaluation panel choosing Fosters was because the company was renowned for using fair trade products and sourcing local produce. This year the catering and café contract is up for tender once again and essential criteria in the evaluation process will be the provision and development of fairly traded produce.
The tender documents made it clear that both the catering service and café operation would be expected to provide fair trade drinks and other products.
Earlier in the year, the Procurement Team tendered a contract for vending services in Council buildings. One of the evaluation criteria was based on whether the suppliers provided fair trade snacks and drinks. Coffeepoint won the contract and provide Oxford City Council with a fully managed vending service, providing fairly traded drinks and snacks, with machines sited at the following locations: Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre, Blackbird Leys Pool, Ferry Leisure Centre, Temple Cowley Pools, Barton Pool, Peers Sports Centre, Oxford Ice Rink, Oxford City Homes staff depot, City Works staff depot, St Aldates Chambers offices, Blue Boar Street offices.
A strategic commitment The council resolved:
7) To integrate Fair Trade considerations into the Council’s Environmental Plan The Community Strategy is the over-arching strategic document for a local area that sets the vision and priorities for the area. In this sense it supersedes the City’s Environmental Plan.
Fairtrade included in Community Strategy 2004 as follows: “The way we purchase goods and services has a major impact on the environment, society, and the economy. Local businesses, social enterprises, and the voluntary sector add specific value to the Oxford area and contribute to social cohesion. We will: Promote the purchasing of local goods and services to achieve maximum community benefit and seek to protect the environment. All major public sector partners and the universities will include appropriate criteria in their procurement strategies by July 2005. These same partners will also investigate the purchase of
Page 3 of 12 renewable energy and contribute towards Oxford's goals as a Fairtrade City by April 2005.”
Fairtrade is also referred to in the Sustainable Community Strategy 2008: Oxford – A World Class City for Everyone “Contemporary Oxford is a global brand. It is an economic hub with a world-class knowledge economy that underpins continued prosperity not just in Oxfordshire but in the south-east of England and beyond. Oxford is committed to fairtrade and is a Fairtrade City.”
Providing further council support for Fairtrade The council resolved:
8) To nominate an officer to liaise with the fair Trade Coalition on implementing this resolution
Val Johnson (Corporate Partnerships Manager) and Sebastian Johnson (City Partnerships Officer) are the nominated officers meeting regularly with, and participating in, the Oxford Fairtrade Coalition.
The council also resolved:
9) To incorporate the Fair Trade initiative into Oxford's Bid to become a City of Culture
The City’s bid to become City of Culture for 2008 was unsuccessful. Out of that process has grown an organisation tasked with leading on cultural activities across the City and County – Oxford Inspires.
Many events have been organised by Oxford Inspires, but none to date have been specifically promoting Fairtrade. This is something that we would like to address and wish to set ourselves a target of the Coalition working alongside Oxford Inspires to integrate Fairtrade into a key event or a number of events in the coming two years.
10) To report annually on progress made with implementing this resolution
Briefings have been prepared for the City Council’s Executive Board
We recognise that this has not been undertaken as rigourously as it could have been and will work to ensure that the City Council’s Executive Board and Community Scrutiny Committee are provided with annual reports.
This task will be owned by a specific Officer within the City Council and we will report on progress and provide copies of reports as part of our next re-certification application.
Page 4 of 12 Goal 2: A range of (at least two) Fairtrade products are readily available in the area's shops and served in local cafes/catering establishments
Retailers at application: 25 (included weekly market and occasional stalls) Retailers are present: 37 (excludes market and occasional stalls)
Catering outlets at application: 16 Catering outlets at renewal: 32
An increasing number of retail and catering outlets Since 2003 the number of places to buy Fairtrade in Oxford has grown substantially – both as national chains with Oxford outlets have switched to greater use of Fairtrade, and as local businesses have adopted increased use of Fairtrade products.
In 2003 we were able to list 25 retail outlets stocking Fairtrade products (including in that figure market stalls and temporary stores).
In 2008 we can list at least 37 full time retail shops with two or more Fairtrade products on offer, including the dedicated Fairtrade@stmichaels shop which is now open 6-days a week selling exclusively Fairtrade and fairly traded products in the city centre. The flagship Fairtrade@stmichaels shop took on permanent premises shortly after our Fairtrade City application was submitted in 2003.
The number of catering outlets has grown from 16 in 2003, to 32 in 2008, now including a number of local pubs and the new Gallery Cafe at the heart of Oxford Town Hall. Within the city centre and in Oxford's Covered Market Fairtrade tea and coffee is becoming the norm rather than an exception.
Our updated list of retailers and catering outlets also shows that Fairtrade products are far more easily available outside of Oxford City Centre.
Details of University, faith groups and community groups selling Fairtrade products can be found in Section 3 of this application.
Full details of all the catering and retail outlets stocking Fairtrade products are to be found in the attached spreadsheet. This lists all the retail and catering outlets that we have been able to survey, and includes a note for those which are 'new', stock 'more' products, or have remained 'constant' in their range of Fairtrade products since 2004. The 'valid' column indicates all the outlets where we have been able to confirm that two or more Fairtrade products are available. Unless otherwise stated outlets in the spreadsheet are open regular retail or catering hours.
Increasing product ranges As well as the growth in Fairtrade product ranges that has been seen on a national level,
Page 5 of 12 campaigners in Oxford have worked hard to encourage particular local businesses to make greater use of Fairtrade products. There has been a particular focus on Fairtrade cotton.
Fairtrade Cotton: Oxford Shirtworks, who print the vast majority of T-shirts for clubs and societies in the Universities, have introduced Fairtrade Cotton products in response to student-led campaigns. Oxford Limited, the licensing arm of the Oxford University, have also worked with student groups to switch all official Oxford University College clothing available to students and to tourists to Fairtrade certified cotton. The flagship Oxford University shop has also regularly stocked Fairtrade chocolate and gifts.
Fairtrade Directories Over the last four years we have produced a range of Fairtrade Directories, including:
● An interactive online directory maintained at http://www.oxfordfairtrade.org.uk between 2003 and 2006. This received over 2000 web visitors.
● A glossy Fairtrade Oxford Directory leaflet was produced around 2004.
● Two Oxford Fairtrade Maps – one produced in 2003 and distributed to over 5000 students along with a range of Fairtrade special offers. One produced in 2006 and distributed to over 1000 shoppers at Oxford's Park and Ride car parks during Fairtrade Fortnight. This innovative method of distributing directories was highly commended in the 2006 “Fairy awards”.
● A glossy 20-page Oxfordshire Fairtrade Directory produced in partnership with Fair Trade Oxfordshire in 2007. Sponsored by the Co-operative and part funded by advertising and by Oxford City Council, we circulated 20,000 copies of this directory.
We are currently gathering information to put together a 2009 Oxford City Fairtrade Directory which will be modelled on the Oxfordshire Fairtrade Directory. We will also be using the information we gather to relaunch an online directory on our new website http://www.oxfairtrade.org.uk
2003 Fairtrade Map – given to students 2007 Fairtrade Oxfordshire Directory
Page 6 of 12 Goal 3: Fairtrade products are used by an appropriate number of local work places (offices, shops, B&Bs etc.) and community organisations (faith communities, schools, universities etc.)
Local businesses Four of Oxford's flagship employers are publically 100% committed to Fairtrade: ● Oxfam GB employing over 600 people in Oxford has a Fairtrade cafe serving a wide range of Fairtrade products to its staff, and uses Fairtrade across its catering. ● The Midcounties Cooperative Society with their headquarters in Oxford City are committed to the use of Fairtrade across their business. ● Oxford Brookes University were Britain's first Fairtrade University and all students and staff canteens, and in college catering, makes use of Fairtrade products. ● Oxford University Press use Fairtrade Tea, Coffee and Sugar in meetings, and sell Fairtrade Tea, Cofee, Fruit Juice and Snacks in staff catering facilities and to visitors.
The Oxford University Botanical Gardens have been particularly active advocates of Fairtrade and have integrated consideration of Fairtrade into many of their educational activities, and run regular Fairtrade themed events – linking together ethics, ecology and trade.
The Universities Oxford Brookes University is certified as a Fairtrade University. When they completed a report to the Fairtrade Foundation in 2006, 12% of all products sold in catering services shops carried the Fairtrade Mark. Oxford Brookes continues to develop its use of Fairtrade products, seeking suppliers of bananas & catering quantities of rice and chocolate.
Oxford University has had an active Fairtrade University Campaign since 2003. 14 of 28 Undergraduate colleges have passed motions in support of gaining Fairtrade Status and Fairtrade products are available in 15 of 28 Undergraduate colleges. The University's Environmental Sustainability Officer is leading a campaign to encourage all 90+ of the University's autonomous departments to use Fairtrade products in their catering. As mentioned above, Fairtrade cotton is now standard for official University clothing. The Oxford Student Fairtrade Coalition regularly holds events to promote Fairtrade – and supports a network of college reps.
Fairtrade Tea & Coffee, and fairly traded hemp bags were given out at the inaugural Oxford Alumni Weekend in 2008.
Schools and Faith Communities Cheney School in Oxford has been very active in campaigning for Fairtrade. Students from the school were involved in a Channel 4 documentary in which they visited India to source Fairtrade school uniforms. Fairtrade and organic girls' and boys' shirts are now available in the school shop. The school also runs a regular Fairtrade Club for students. We believe a number of other schools are working towards Fairtrade status but do not have access to figures on this.
Page 7 of 12 The Oxford Jewish Centre, the shared meeting space of a number of Oxford's Jewish congregations, uses Fairtrade tea, coffee and sugar.
There is a strong commitment to Fairtrade across the Oxford Diocese with 20 Fairtrade Churches within the bounds of the city alone, and over 400 across the whole diocese. The Fairtrade Churches include: Blackbird Leys, Church of the Holy Family; Cowley Bartlemas Chapel; Cowley St Albans; Cowley St Clement; Cowley St Francis; Cowley St James; Cowley SS Mary and John; Elsfield, St Thomas of Canterbury; Headington Quarry, Holy Trinity; Iffley, St Mary; Marston St Nicholas; New Marston, St Michael and All Angels; Oxford St Andrew; Oxford St Ebbe; Oxford St Matthew; Oxford St Michael at the Northgate; St Andrew South with New Hinksey (2 churches); Summertown, St Michael and All Angels; Wolvercote, St Peter's. There are 7 Churches with a commitment to Fairtrade although not yet with Fairtrade status: Oxford St Frideswide with Binsey; Oxford St Giles with St Margaret (2 churches); Oxford St Aldate's; Oxford St Mary Magdalen; Littlemore; Headington St Mary; Highfield All Saints.
Cowley Deanery have been particularly active in promoting Fairtrade . A group with representatives from local churches have organised regular Fairtrade Fortnight stalls in Templars Square, a shopping centre serving outer Oxford – including market stalls, Fairtrade tastings and entertainment. The 2008 event was opened by Oxford MP Andrew Smith.
Fairtrade stalls are held at: St Andrews Church, Linten Street; St John's Church, Vicarage Rd; Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, New Inn Hall Street; Holy Trinity Church, Headington; New Road Baptist Church, City Centre; St Columba's, City Centre; and Holy Rood Catholic Church, Abingdon Road.
Churches Together in Headington are working towards opening a new Fair Trade Shop in this substantial outer Oxford community.
Community Groups Fairtrade products are used by a wide range of community groups. A survey in March by the City Council's Local Food Development Officer identified 19 different groups making use of Fairtrade products, from tea and coffee through to fruit and Geobars, and Fairtrade cooking ingredients.
Using tea/coffee and some additional products: Connection Floating Support Team, Restore Elder Stubbs, Community Emergency Food Bank, Age Concern Corner Cafe, Donnington Doorsteps, Stepping Stones, Gatehouse, OCHA, Emmaus, Open Door, NOA Community Centre, The Lakeside 50+ Club at South Oxford Community Centre, Broomtree Cafe, Rainbow House, Clockhouse Tai Chi Group, Barton Learning Communities, Asylum Welcome, Jericho Community Centre, and Oxford Youth Works.
Oxford Woodcraft folk regularly use Fairtrade ingredients in cooking sessions. The Oxford Women's Institute, Walton Manor Branch, have held at least two meetings with a Fairtrade theme.
The new coalition steering group structure includes a sub-group focussed on community outreach to help us identity and link up with other community groups who have engaged with Fairtrade – and to develop support to encourage other community groups to switch to
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Page 9 of 12 Goal 4: attract media coverage and popular support for the campaign
Since the launch of Oxford as a Fairtrade City, with messages of support from Nelson Mandela and producer groups across the world, Oxford City has played host to over 100 events promoting Fairtrade in the city, and many more amongst student groups and in schools, colleges and faith institutions.
Whilst press stories about Oxford as a Fairtrade City have been displaced by coverage of developing Fairtrade campaigns across Oxfordshire (most local newspapers have a circulation beyond the city itself), we have maintained strong coverage of Fairtrade events by arranging regular Fairtrade Fortnight supplements in the Oxford Mail since 2006 – allowing us to share detailed listings of Fairtrade events alongside editorial content about the positive impact Fairtrade has.
A digital archive of Fairtrade Fortnight events, additional Fairtrade events, press supplements and details of press coverage of Fairtrade in Oxford is available on our archive blog at http://oxfairtrade.wordpress.com . To save paper we have tried to attach digital copies of all relevant publicity to this online archive which is organised by category and in date order. Highlights from this archive of events and press coverage are shared below.
Fairtrade Fortnight In 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008 the Coalition organised a packed programme of Fairtrade Fortnight events, and actively promoted events organised by partner groups such as the Oxford International Women's Festival which has overlapped each year with Fairtrade Fortnight. Event calendars have been produced and circulated each year – with the calendar featuring in a special newspaper supplement in 2006.
Daily events throughout Fairtrade Fortnights have been varied – including tastings and discussion groups in coffee shops, through to hands-on activities at the Botanical Gardens, talks from Fairtrade Producers, academic debates, seminars for those new to Fairtrade and for those wanting to deepen their understanding and evening meals of Fairtrade food with entertainment and speeches.
In 2007 the Coalition focussed energy on organising a 'Children's Fairtrade Treasure Trail' to reach out to new groups. The treasure trail was advertised in local newspapers, and invited participants to visit many different Fairtrade outlets in the city centre – with free 'fairtrade goodies' and prizes on offer.
Both Universities have also actively run and promoted Fairtrade Fortnight events – with talks, publicity stunts (e.g. Fairtrade Tug of War) and parties taking place in individual colleges and University wide.
O ther events Alongside the many lectures and academic activities on Fairtrade taking place year round in Oxford – many other Fairtrade focussed events have taken place outside Fairtrade Fortnight in Oxford over the last four years.
Page 10 of 12 ● During National Knitting Week 2008 Fair Trade knitting events were organised at the Oxford Botanical Gardens ● Between 2003 and 2007 the fairtrade@stmichaels shop organised regular high profile Fairtrade Fashion Shows and the Oxford Student Fairtrade Coalition organised a number of ethical fashion shows and Fairtrade clothing sales at the Oxford Union; ● In April 2005 we held a discussion event with Dr Vuppala Purushothaman visiting from the International Foundation for Fairtrade And Development, and Carol Wills, former director of IFAT. ● The Oxford Student Fairtrade Coalition helped co-ordinate a high profile Oxford Union debate in February 2004 with Peter Brabeck, CEO of Nestle defending the motion 'This House Believes Fair Trade is Free Trade' against Paul Chandler, Chief Executive of Traidcraft.
Press coverage In addition to the high profile Fairtrade supplement in the Oxford Mail in 2006, a list of press coverage in key Oxford newspapers is included in our online archive. Since Oxford City gained Fairtrade status, most in depth coverage of Fairtrade has focussed on other Fairtrade Village and Town campaigns within the newspapers' circulation – but Oxford City has seen high profile coverage of Cheney School's Fairtrade School Uniform project with Channel 4 and a profile article on local Fair Trade entrepreneur Kerry Li.
The student newspapers have regularly featured editorial content about Fairtrade – with student written articles providing an in-depth analysis of the impact of Fairtrade. Publicity stunts by the Oxford Student Fairtrade Coalition have regularly featured in the papers.
An global centre for Fairtrade Soon after gaining Fairtrade Status in 2004, members of the Oxford Fairtrade Coalition and Oxford academics organised an international conference for over 80 people at the Said Business School. Called 'Fairtrade Futures', the conference sought to explore the future directions of the Fairtrade movement. Over 10 different group representatives were present, including producer groups from India, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Honduras. Many producer groups led workshops at the conference. The conference was opened by a review of the history of the Fair Trade movement by Twin Trading director Michael Barratt- Brown. We are currently starting to plan our next Conference for November 2009 which will have as its theme "New discourses around Fairtrade".
That conference marked the emergence of Oxford as an international center for research and academic study on Fairtrade – and it is the vision of the Oxford City Fairtrade Coalition that Oxford should continue to develop its role in the study and development of Fairtrade.
Existing academic activity on Fairtrade includes: ● The Fairtrade Research Group at the Said Business School; ● Work on the Fair Tracing project (to improve digital audit trails and consumer information on products) by members of the Oxford Internet Institute; ● Fairtrade focussed lecture series at the Regent's Park College hosted Centre for Christianity and Culture. ● A Fair Trade focus within the environmental courses at Rewley House, the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education ● Flag ship lectures on Fairtrade at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford.
Page 11 of 12 Goal 5: A local steering group is convened to ensure progress and continued commitment to the campaign.
Following Oxford's certification in 2004, the local steering group continued to meet on a monthly basis and keep in contact with members of the Oxford Fairtrade Coalition via the website we created and via an active mailing list. However, from 2006 attendance at steering group meetings began to drop off so we decided to try something different. In January 2008 we re-launched ourselves at an open meeting held in the main Council Chamber at Oxford Town Hall. The purpose of the meeting was to revive the Coalition and share our vision of what Oxford as a Fairtrade City really means and what it - and the Coalition - might become. Representatives of the following bodies were present at the meeting: ● Oxford University Administration ● Oxford University student body (through the OUSU ● Said Business School (Alex Nicholls/ Amanda Berlan) ● Oxfam ● The Coop ● The Fair Trade business community (St. Michael’s, Pula) ● The wider business community (through the Oxford Chamber of Commerce) ● Church and Fairtrade Groups ● Schools – Council, C of E, Roman Catholic, private ● Activists The agenda covered plans for Fairtrade Fortnight (2008), Plans for the "Big Brew", re- certification of Oxford as a Fairtrade City and the re-organisation of the Oxford Ft Coalition (with fewer meetings, clearer agendas and the creation of a small core group to manage everything). The core steering group At our re-launch meeting a core steering group was duly re-appointed. It consists of Maranda St. John Nicolle (CCOW), Lorna Hicks (Cowley Deanery), Naveed Chaudhri (Oxfam), Tiffany Woods Shepherd (Oxford Students Fairtrade Coalition), Mike McKinley (Shared Interest Ambassador), Sebastian Johnson (Oxford City Council), Val Johnson (Oxford City Council), Judith Condor Vidal (Trading for Development), Patricia Wright (Local campaigner), Tim Davies (Treasurer) , Carol Wills (Chair). Since January we have met formally eight times. All our meetings are held at the Town Hall, have agendas and are minuted. Our aim as a core steering group is to hold two or three major Fairtrade events during the year in the City in addition to everything that goes on during Fairtrade Fortnight (which absorbs a great deal of everyone's time and energy!). Sub-groups Within that steering group we have also established two specific teams. ● The business outreach team are focussing on developing the range of businesses using Fairtrade products in Oxford, with a particular focus in the first instance on hotels and bed and breakfasts. ● The community outreach team are focussing on developing the range of community groups using and promoting Fairtrade products in Oxford. Redeveloping our web presence & mailing lists During 2007 we struggled to maintain our old website, but with, we hope, the re- certification of Oxford as a Fairtrade City we will be launching a new site at http://www.oxfairtrade.org.uk and developing our mailing lists. We operate one mailing list for those interested in steering and sub-group activities (approx. 70 members) and one list for those interested in Fairtrade news and events (currently dormant, but we aim to build this up to 500 members over the next year).
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